Monday, May 19, 2014

Gandhi relics on display, Gandhi Museum gets new website

Razor, fountain pens, spectacles used byMahatma Gandhiand bangles, vermilion, shawl and jacket used by Kasturba Gandhi from 1942 to 1948 were today put on exhibition by National Gandhi Museum, on the occasion of International Museum Day.

The relics used by the Gandhis, 32 in all, also included soap-box, a small clock, brass 'diya', stone and a steel bowl, woolen rug, thread and needle, a spinning wheel, jute slippers among others have been acquired by the museum from Manubehn Gandhi's collection.

Manubehn, one of the grand niece of Mahatma Gandhi who had joined him during the QuitIndiaMovement (1942) and stayed with Kasturba and him till his last breath in 1948, had kept these relics preserved, said A Annamalai, Director of the Museum.

Also a new website of the National Gandhi Museum -www.Gandhimuseum.Org- was launched which aims to provide the museum's resources including text, audio-video footage and photographs online.

Friday, May 9, 2014

The relevance of Gandhian economics in today's world seems to be
paradoxical. Gandhi believed that India lives in villages and that development
of the villages will mean development of India as a whole. If we are to
increase the scope on a bigger scale and look at the world as a unified country
and countries as villages, the relevance is clear. Today, we live in a global
village and, as they say, it has indeed become a small place to live in. With
recession affecting the world like never before, it is time to go back to the
drawing board. Gandhi saw the problems associated with industrialisation and
modernisation. He believed that unless villages are developed and made self
sufficient, it will lead to mass migration, overcrowded cities and the vicious
circle of poverty and under-development cannot be extinguished. Gandhi's
economic ideas were closely linked to the upliftment of weaker and
underprivileged sections of the society and overall development of the village
economy as a whole. Along with the freedom struggle, vigorous efforts were made
by Gandhi for the development of villages by making them financially
independent through establishment of small and cottage industries. He believed
that political independence without economic independence was hollow. He was sure
that the progress of the country lies in the development of majority of its
rural villages. Gandhi said that the only way of bringing hope of good living
to the rural people was by making the village the central place in the economic
programme.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

'Half Naked Fakir'

The Story of Gandhi's Personal Search for Sartorial Integrity

By Peter Gonsalves

‘Half-naked Fakir' - the story of Gandhi's personal search for sartorial integrity brings together M. K. Gandhi's essential thoughts and anecdotes on his exploration of truth via attire. The reader is invited to grasp the nuances of Gandhi's progressive journey towards personal and sartorial authenticity, from imitating the English in London, to searching for an Indian identity in South Africa, to becoming the dhoti-clad Mahatma of India's millions.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Gandhi and the Great Divide: Portrayal of Gandhi/sm in Partition Novels

By N.S. Gundur

Abstract

The present paper aims at exploring the image of Gandhi and Gandhism as portrayed in the fictional narratives on the Partition of the Indian subcontinent. The study undertakes the analysis of novels - what reality of Gandhi do they construct? Do they condemn or critique or idealize Gandhi/sm? How far are they historically authentic and aesthetically appealing? It is argued here that the Indian English novels on Partition affirm humanism as against sectarianism, and celebrate values of love, peace and non-­violence that were very central to Gandhi's lifelong mission. The idiom of their message is Gandhian - 'violence breeds violence; hence non-violence.